Thomas - great report and yes I did read the whole thing!! Good on you for getting to the end and what an amazing time too. I wonder if you put too much expectation on yourself. I hope you realise you did a fantastic run out there. I think you'll also maybe enjoy it more next year knowing what to expect. Although if your legs hurt this year, prepare yourself. And the down run at Comrades is the only time in my life I've lost toenails!!

Sounds like you're all going to have a blast at a safari after. We went to the Serengeti some years back. Truly amazing holiday. Unfortunately I'll not be coming to SA as I have decided to go the ultra trail route and have several in mind. And am going to finish off next year with New York marathon which I'm really looking forward to. If London won't have me then The Big Apple it is

And I discovered that IF I actually manage to complete my races next year I will have qualified for Western States and UTMB Ha Ha

@lowrez, I am not going to quote you given that you have posted what I suspect is the whole of said national parks terms and conditions

I will however respond to your queries about our piss up safari.

If it is like Hlue, I assume a private lodge just means a nicer lodge away from other people. I.E. You dont have to bump into people in the morning and make small talk / you can vomit on a lion and no humans will take issue with it.

I assume the other benefit is that it isnt a 'public' area so you can take your own booze. When I went to Hlue it was lots of 5am starts so I assume realistically if you are going to see animals, booze is probably not your friend. I can get pissed here for a lot cheaper

A friend said he stayed in a private lodge and it was not fenced/gated. So yeh.. the other benefit is that elephants might wonder past your front door (they did in his case). Hence the disclaimer/indemnity. We are British after all - I am sure someone has tried to ride a lion.

Thomas - great report and yes I did read the whole thing!! Good on you for getting to the end and what an amazing time too. I wonder if you put too much expectation on yourself. I hope you realise you did a fantastic run out there. I think you'll also maybe enjoy it more next year knowing what to expect. Although if your legs hurt this year, prepare yourself. And the down run at Comrades is the only time in my life I've lost toenails!!

Awesome ! How long did it take you.

I definitely put too much expectation on myself. I always do. It is my biggest fault as far as I am concerned.

But yeh.. I am super stoked about it. My policy is that if you get to the finish and literally have 0 left to give then you can't be dissapointed - you gave it everything. My mother always used to say "You can't do better than your best". Wise woman.

So Terry, what does heart man say you can and can't do?Have I told you guys the story of when a older runner from Banbury Harriers talked me into giving him a lift back from Stratford while in the kit queue...so, making polite conversation as we headed down the M40, I asked what he was doing next week (we'd actually first met ... Or at least he'd heard me swearing about a turned ankle ... The week before at another marathon in Stratford, so it was a reasonable question)."heart surgery!" He saidAnd all of a sudden I stopped worrying if I would end the journey alive (*)and started worrying if he would!This was years ago and he's still alive and well so I presume it worked - some sort of zapping for SVT I think (*) Not really!

Fido, the heart lady says my "heart is far from normal but ... can run 7 miles a day but not anything like a marathon or anything of high intensity" (definitely no sprint finishes!). Seems a contradiction to me. If I could only get motivated to get back up to 7 miles/day a marathon should be quite easy?

Hi all , back in the Uk after a great holiday... If anyone is looking for a safari I can thoroughly recommend the Umlani bushcamp in the Timbuvati part of kruger.. Its free alcohol there and they feed you all day. Amazing game drives. Only 16 people max ever in camp and they have total respect for the animals in the private Timbuavati region. An at this time of year didnt even need malaria tablets to go

Glad to see so many great success stories. Sadly We will not be joining you next year. hubby has opted for Canada for our main trip as we have never been. i will be following your progress though. thanks for a great three years

Huh Terry so no sprinting OR a lot of slow running! I know what you mean about "if 50mpw is OK what's the big deal about 26 in 1 day" but the devil's in the details of how it all works and it's not like we have spares! "Hey heart Dr is it ok if I do it run/walk and take 6h?" (FX: doctor sighing)I shall know be v v grateful that at least I can cycle as fast as my meagre fitness lets me...

Now at 79.8 miles, so just over 20 miles to go, and if I understand correctly almost 6.5 hours to do it within his 30h target! Sounds doable, but I have no idea how hard the terrain is, nor how hard 20 miles is when you’ve already done 80! I think Comrades is enough of a challenge for me!